Yesterday I was at the "Agile i Sverige" conference in Stockholm and did a keynote called "Lita på mig – löften och lögner i agila project". In English that would be "Trust me – promises and lies in agile projects".
Here are the slides. The slides are in Swedish (although I ended up doing the talk in English).
I think this topic is interesting and important so I do plan to write some kind of article or summary in english – but no promises :o)
Here’s the abstract in English, just to spark your curiousity:
The agile manifesto says "Customer collaboration over contract negotiation" – but customer collaboration is based on trust. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between promises, estimates, and lies. We will go through some frightening examples and discuss trust in agile projects.
Nice presentation!
"För mycket fokus på att uppfylla sin del av kontraktet istället för att samarbeta", or – "Too much focus on fulfilling own part of the contract instead of cooperating" – I completely agree!
I am not sure where I read it years ago, but someone said once: "If a man you are dealing with is trustworthy – you do not need any contract; but if he is not, there is no contract that can help you". Maybe a bit cynical and oversimplified, but a valid point! Trust is essential for a good cooperation.
Good stuff as always. Where does the x years of experience statements come from? I understood most of it, not just that. 🙂
I estimated that the guys at the agile manifesto meeting had somewhere around 400 man-years of experience.
The exercise I’ve been doing ("why did you past projects succceed or fail?") in all my coaching and training sessions aggregate about 3000 man-years of experience so far.
My point was that we really should listen when 3400 man-years of experience tell us beyond doubt that communication & trust is one of the most critical factors for success or failure in a project.
SHITES POMMES FRITES! DU ÄR SMACK ON IGEN!!!